UNIT 2
Disrobing of Christ or El Expolio
Born Dominicos Theotocopoulos on the island of Crete, he was later called El Greco (“The Greek”) by the Spaniards. In Crete he had learnt the pictorial discipline of the icon maker. In general, the icon strove to convey its message simply and directly, but with maximum of emotional effect. Accordingly, the icon makers reduced the colour and drawing of figures and nature to strong, clear patterns. This is believed to have influenced certain of El Greco’s conception and his ideal of religious expression.
The primacy of imagination and intuition over the subjective character of creation was a fundamental principle of El Greco's style. El Greco discarded classicist criteria such as measure and proportion. He believed that grace is the supreme quest of art, but the painter achieves grace only if he manages to solve the most complex problems with obvious ease. El Greco regarded color as the most important and the most ungovernable element of painting, and declared that color had primacy over form.
The Disrobing of Christ or El Expolio is a painting begun in the summer of 1577 and completed in the spring of 1579 for the High Altar of the sacristy of the Cathedral of Toledo, where it still hangs, is one of El Greco's most famous works.